Development Log: The Vortex #28 - Frenzies

Now we're getting into the final category of cards: Frenzies.

Frenzies are designed to add an element of chance to the game.  If you think of Chess, you can see everything on the board at once, including your opponent's pieces.  But in Poker, the opponents' cards are hidden, so you have limited information to work with, and have to take a chance about whether you have a better hand than your opponents.

Frenzies are meant to add that element to this game.  You can see a Zealots' basic stats, but there are extra Frenzies placed face-down that prevent you from seeing what has been altered.

Many Frenzies are very simple, like the eight above.  They simply change a card's stats in a direct way, but improving one or two stats at the cost of the others.

Sometimes, however, Frenzies can be slightly more complex.  Mania, for example, lowers all card stats against against Devotees, but makes killing troublesome Zealots much easier.

I am considering changing the wording on some, because in Mania, for instance, is the ultimate effect against zealots a +3 to Attack, or a +2, because of the -1 Attack initially?  I think I'll fix the wording in those cards if I get too much confusion by players on the rules.

Finally, there is a one-of-a-kind Frenzy, Through the Mud, which does something much different than just alter stats.

In the next log, we'll see the last of the Frenzies, which aren't as quite vanilla as these.

Development Log: The Vortex #27 - Last of The Noise

Here are the last eight Red Devotees:

Some of the cards are very weak in their stats, so they make up for it by having very powerful special rules.

The idea behind Pollen is that when you have allergies, getting all riled up isn't going to help, and panicking can make problems worse, so you need to be calm (not a Zealot) to be able to take it on.  Of course I do't mean literally pollen, but an alien species that acts similarly, as with most cards.

Of course, with Lifters, I wasn't thinking weights, but something more akin to morale, which is why it effects all other cards in play.

Kamikaze is perhaps both the weakest and most powerful card, since its stats are minimal, but its special rule is devastating.  The only way to get rid of it without detonation is by True Conversion.

Lost Souls is a bit odd, in that it is a fairly powerful card, yet has a limitation on its powers of conversion.  This is meant to reflect (in a very abstract way) the way a ghost might scare you, but can do no real damage.

Spineless is the one "opposite card" of this set, where its attack stat is poor and its reasoning is good.

Since that's the last of the Devotee cards for all colors, next we'll move on to the final batch of cards, the Frenzies.

Development Log: The Vortex #26 - More of The Noise

Here are eight more Devotees of the Noise:

Although I've previously referenced "nomadic" cards like Walkers, the actual card Nomads here changes the scope of the term slightly.  These Nomads can walk between life and the afterlife freely, and I tried to show that in their special rules.  It's a little bit of a stretch, so I may change their name in the future.

Sewerlife is a Red-Text card, like many other cards, so players must keep it in mind during Crusades, even if it is not directly engaged.

The Noisemaker is meant to be a ship that is so loud (take it to mean the way Hawaiian shirts are loud) that it cannot hide anything.

Addicts suggests not drugs (although I suppose the placeholder art does), but rather an addiction to Crusading.

I think for the most part the other cards are self-explanatory, or you can easily suss out my intentions with them.

Next log will be the last eight Red cards in the set.

Development Log: The Vortex #25 - The Noise

Finally, we have Red's Devotees.  Red's sect is called The Noise, and is based in violence, hence its primary stat is straight battle, which is the crossed swords to the right of the card.

For most cards, and really, even for The Noise, battle should be a last resort when the enemy is too tough to convert.  Normally no points are awarded for killing other players' devotees, but because Red would be at a major disadvantage there, Red gets half a point for every non-red dead devotee at the end of the game.  Because it's only half a point, it should not be a primary means of conversion for Red, but it can be useful.

Having Red play also means that other players will have to change their strategy.  If players previously were flippant about murdering pesky cards, they now have to be much more cautious about it, because they would give Red points.

Storywise, The Noise is a bit more suicidal and war-like than other sects.  It would be nice to convert others in this life, but they care far more about the afterlife, and think that simply killing a person is equal to converting by another means, because, after all, they reason, in the afterlife you'll discover they were right rather quickly.

Because they are a sect based in violence, their cards reflect the disturbing nature of the game even more than Yellow's cards.  Most cards, as you can see above, show ghoulish and supernatural images in their placeholder art.

Their biggest enemy is Green, for calm reason and debate is the opposite of a sword to the gut.

Next log we'll get into more Red cards.

Development Log: The Vortex #24 - Last of Emptiness

Here are the last eight cards of Emptiness, Blue's Devotees.

The last of these cards generally follow the theme, with the exception of The Unimaginable, which follows the rule that there is always one exception to the theme.

Witch Doctor negates Frenzies, so it weakens a card without directly acting offensively.

Respectators was designed with the terms "Respect" and "Spectator" put together.  So if you think about them as spectators in any sport, from Roman Gladiators to modern boxing matches or football games, they will not jump in the fight, but their presence has an effect on the morale of those they cheer for (namely other Blue cards).

Dustchildren is of a similar nature to the nomads like Walkers.

Naomi has a calming effect on the Crusades.  I imagine her as being some kind of exotic and magical priestess or princess, so the placeholder art is good enough, I suppose.

The placeholder art for Dripping, however, is fairly irrelevant to the card.  I think of dripping bodily fluids, like sweat, blood, saliva, or the slime of a slug, so it would be a creature that might look like an alien rabid dog, perhaps.  Such a creature would be unable to use logic, hence its extra rule.

Next Development Log, we move on to Red cards.

Back Again

Well, back again.  I think I'll be keeping the Tuesday/Thursday posting schedule for now.

I've changed the look of the blog as well as the look of my Portfolio Site because I've gotten a few complaints that dark backgrounds and light text is a headache.  I like it better that way, but I certainly don't want to make people ill who visit my sites!

On this blog, I've also gotten rid of Deconstructions.  They're still there if you look back far enough, but I've simply hidden the tab that was on the top of the page.  I've just decided to do that because it's a feature that I lost interest in and haven't posted one in a long time.  I may resurrect it, but if I do, it'll probably be in a different format.

As for what's ahead: I'll finish off the Vortex cards, and post January Engine updates as it goes.  I also have quite a few games to review, including 11 DS games, since a DS recently came into my possession.  Only problem with it is that the sound is busted, so hopefully sound does not play a major role in the games I have.

If you want to see anything special, leave a comment.

Break Time Again

I'll be gone for the next couple of weeks and won't be able to update my blog. Next time I'll update should be the Tuesday, August 21st.

Until then, enjoying some non-game fun.

When I get back, I'll finish up the Vortex cards posts, as well as another Dev Log or two on the status of the January Engine.  I am also considering other projects, but when I get back I'll make my decision on them.